The University of California and several partners have released a new version of a free tool that helps researchers and their institutions create effective data management plans required by the federal government.

The DMPTool v2 aids researchers with this critical component of research practice required by agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF). Under the 2013 Office of Science and Technology Policy directive, this requirement will expand to nearly all federal agencies within the next year.

With funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, DMPTool project partners built a tool that guides researchers in creating plans that meet an array of funder requirements and provides embedded assistance and suggestions for successfully completing the plan. Partners creating the second version of the tool include the California Digital Library’s UC Curation Center (UC3), the University of Virginia Library, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Purdue Libraries, the Smithsonian Institution and DataONE.

“This innovative technology was created by a talented group of colleagues working together,” said Patricia Cruse, Director of UC3. “This highlights the importance of collaboration in the success of complex projects such as this.”

DMPTool v2 was built in response to users’ requests for an array of new features, including increased functionality for plan creators and administrators. Plan creators can now collaborate with colleagues, get institution-specific help and easily share their plans publicly or within their institution. Institutional administrators can easily customize their plans with local branding, templates and assistance tailored to the institutions.

“I’m looking forward to the increased functionality of the latest version of the DMPTool, which will help researchers at my university win more grants,” said Stephanie Wright, data services coordinator for the University of Washington Libraries. “I’ll also use it to strengthen the relationship with our university’s Office of Sponsored Programs, and advance our conversations on institutional data management policies.”

Use of the DMPTool has grown to 115 institutions that have configured their campus single sign-on or customized the technology for their users. Participating organizations are located across 40 states and the District of Columbia, with California leading nationally with 20 participating organizations.